By Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales
MANILA, (Reuters) – Candidate Ferdinand Marcos Jr. has a significant electoral victory on track in the Philippine presidential elections this Monday, with twice the votes of his closest opponent, putting the son of the well-known dictator who died in 1989 on the brink of a historic political revival.
An unofficial count by the electoral commission puts Marcos, 64, close to passing the 27.5 million votes needed to secure a majority in a presidential election for the first time since the end of his father’s rule, which lasted from 1965. and 1986.
The investigation makes the return, previously unthinkable, of the Marcos family to power virtually certain, 36 years after a humiliating exit into exile after a popular uprising that overthrew his government.
“I hope you don’t get tired of trusting us,” Marcos told supporters in statements broadcast on Facebook, a platform that is at the heart of the candidate’s political strategy.
“We have a lot to do,” he said, adding that “an undertaking as big as this doesn’t just involve one person.”
Mark Jr. had 26.3 million votes, more than double the 12.5 million votes of Leni Robredo, the current vice president, with 81.8 percent of the count, according to the Electoral Commission’s unofficial count. (COMELEC).
Despite the downfall, the Marcos family returned from exile in the 1990s, and has since represented a powerful force in Philippine politics, maintaining its influence with vast wealth and important connections.
Mark Jr. he was once governor, deputy and senator, his sister, Imee, is currently a senator, and his mother, Imelda, an influential mediator and widow of the late dictator, served four terms in the country’s Chamber of Deputies.
(Reporting by Karen Lema and Neil Jerome Morales)
#Ferdinand #Marcos #son #win #presidential #elections #Philippines #ISTOÉ #DINHEIRO